Wind energy investment in India over £9.6billion by 2020

Fresh investors are expected to transfer over £9.6 billion ($15billion) into India’s wind energy sector by 2020, as they will be upbeat on the improved regulatory and financial environment, according to a report by ratings and research firm CRISIL (Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited is a global analytical company providing ratings, research, and risk and policy advisory services. India will add 4 GW wind energy capacity every year over the next 5 years, translating into a total investment of over £9.6billion ($15 billion). The feed-in tariffs for wind energy projects has declined significantly and were fast approaching grid parity which would attract fresh investments to the sector.

It is noticeable that India has never added more than 3.2 GW wind energy capacity in a financial year. The Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association predicts that 3.5 GW capacity would be added in this financial year.

The Indian government has pledged the continuation of critical incentives for the wind energy sector, such as accelerated depreciation, generation-based incentive, also planning to launch the National Wind Energy Mission which would accelerate the development of wind energy projects and open the offshore wind energy sector, to push utilities to procure more renewable energy.

These initiatives by the government have already started to reap results. Indian and international project developers have pledged to add over 47 GW of new wind energy capacity by 2022. The Indian government has set a target to install 60 GW worth of wind energy capacity by 2022. This means that around 37 GW capacity would have to be added by March-end 2022.

Certainly, wind power has now firmly established itself as a mainstream option for new electrical generation, and become the least-cost option when adding new capacity to the grid in an increasing number of markets, as prices continue to fall.